Children of all ages are more likely to use electronic sources of information such as television and radio rather than print sources such as newspapers and magazines, according to a variety of studies. A study examined whether this tendency continued if the children were forced by their primary and secondary school teachers to use multiple news sources--of their own choices--to follow an election campaign. Respondents were 24,348 students participating in the Kids Voting USA civics education program operating in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Results indicated that even when seeking election campaign information in 1994, a non-presidential year when the emphasis was more on state and local races, students overwhelmingly preferred television and radio as sources of information. Newspaper usage trailed both electronic forms even when a child's family subscribed to a newspaper. Findings suggest how difficult it may be for the newspaper industry to attract the next generation of potential readers and subscribers. No evidence of a knowledge gap was found between White and non-White students in the choice and use of information sources. The large sample size also allowed for a detailed look of often neglected subgroups such as Native American children (n=1114) and Asian American children (n=768). (Contains 8 tables of data and 53 references.) (Author/NKA)

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